Vampirul și Cavalerul
by impr0mptu
Summary: It was a dangerous game they played, the Vampire and the Knight. Their bond was formed with fire, blood, and honour; but as the years roll on, something else is born from the chaos that neither of them could control. [Set pre, during, and post manga. Rated M for safety in later chapters.]
1. Început

**A/N: Hi Folks! First off, I apologise to those of you who were reading 'Hellsing: The Return', but I have taken it off FanFiction for now as I believe it was not yet ready to be posted. Which translates into 'I didn't like it'.**

 **THIS story, however, is ready for posting. And I have thoroughly enjoyed writing it as I believe there aren't enough stories that cover the time period following Alucard's re-awakening. As always, I cannot guarantee a specific update schedule due to how hectic things are, but I will try and post one or two chapters a week at most, and one a month at the very least.**

 **Here's chapter 1, its more of a prologue really but I loved writing it.**

 **R &R as always, you lovely people :D**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hellsing, its characters, or anything affiliated with it.**

* * *

The Vampire and the Knight

 _He had known darkness for so many years that he thought himself mad when he felt the light. Well, he was already mad, but now he thought that even his base senses had taken leave of their enduring reliability. But that would mean that his hearing had also faltered, and his sense of smell too; and they_ _ **never**_ _failed him._

 _No, he had heard the sound of footsteps above him. They were loud, heavy, and without care as to who heard them, for the owners of the feet were surely confident they had been alone. Three pairs of feet thumped along the stone floor above, and there was something else there as well._

 _Something was scratching. No. Scraping? Yes, that was a better word. He could here something scraping, pulling itself along something that reverberated and thundered. Metal? Whatever it was, it was drawing close. The feet were getting closer, too, but the one scraping with the metal was faster, nearer, louder._

 _Then there was a noise, a_ _ **loud**_ _noise. The scraping one had jumped and landed on something hard. The stone floor? Ah, so that was it; whatever it was, it had been crawling through the...things. Things? They had a name, dammit they had a name! They were long, hollow structures of steel and iron; a stagnant wind was pushed through them by the ancient systems that lay under the...the house? Yes it was under the house! And...and the hollow metal things...the air vents!_

 _So it had been crawling through the air vents, and was now...running. It was running! Loud feet thundered on the ground, sending ripples through the solid foundations of the house. The loud clapping of feet echoed through the place...the hallways? Yes that was it; hallways under he house...the dungeons!_

 _It was now running through the dungeons, and the feet...the other three pairs of feet were chasing it! Their pace had quickened, and though the other one had a significant lead over them in distance... they were faster._

 _It was a hunt. There was a hunt in progress, here, now, at this very moment. There was a hunt!_

 _And he...he could do nothing about it. He was trapped._

 _How long had it been? Years? Surely decades, at least. The ebb and flow of time had become impossible to measure years ago, and all attempts to cling to it failed. Eventually he'd abandoned the notion of time altogether, but now he was forced to try and recollect its passing._

 _Yes, it had been years. So many years had passed without so much of a whisper of activity. He had only known blackness, the darkness of his...cell? Yes he was locked in a cell, and his master had thrown away the key._

 _'Master...'_

 _That word, it held familiarity to him. He had a master...no, he_ _ **had**_ _a master. The master was dead._

 _He didn't know how, but he could feel it. Something was missing, something that was tangible before, detectable, measurable and ever present; but now it was gone. It made him sad, he didn't understand why, but it did. It made him very sad._

 _And then the light had erupted before him..._

* * *

 _ **'...There lies one of the Hellsing family's darkest legacies...it will be the instrument of your salvation...'**_

"Father...is this my protection?" Integra asked in despair. Her hands unconsciously shaking at the dried husk (of a man?) that lay before her in the musty room. "These dry, rotten remains will defend me from harm?"

No answer. Of course there wouldn't be, her father was dead, and like her mother he was never coming back. All she had as a parting gift was this corpse, this thing that she found in the deepest regions of Hellsing's dungeons. She hadn't even known that it existed, she knew about the under-labs, but this was hidden even deeper! What was this place? If she had to take a guess, it looked like a prison, and this was a prison cell.

Her father had said that whatever it was had been there for over twenty years; a weapon so dangerous in its efficiency that it was locked up out of fear. Only someone with truly nothing else to lose would dare unleash it, or so her father had told her. But this thing was no weapon, it wasn't even alive! It was useless!

"Father...this isn't funny..." She whimpered. Without any real thought or consideration, Integra leaned against the wall of the room, slowly sliding down to sit next to the corpse. They were now sitting in the same position, heads bowed, their backs to the wall. She looked at it, where the eyes should be, not really knowing what to do, and vainly hoping that this strange thing would magically give her the answer. No answers came, of course. It was dead. Like her father, and her mother, it was dead. She sighed.

"Well, I have nowhere else to go..." She shrugged despondently. "You won't mind me here, will you?"

The silence of the corpse was her only answer, Integra hopped that whoever it had once been wouldn't be too put out her her presence in his cell.

Time passed. Integra sat with her mummified companion, waiting for the inevitable. She couldn't help but feel utterly crushed by disappointment, why had her father led her down here? What had he hoped to achieve, other than give his daughter a bleak tomb for her uncle to execute her in.

"I thought a knight in shining armour would await me, instead...this," She mumbled, pushing away any tears of despair that dared present themselves. "If only such fantasies were reality...I would be so happy...leaving a man here for twenty years...oh father, why have you done this?"

Again, there was no reply. She was all alone. There was nobody to help her anymore, nobody to turn to, nobody to depend upon. She had nothing.

"I don't want to die...I really don't..."

She heard the sound of footsteps approaching.

"We've found her!"

* * *

 _A noise, a loud noise. A bang. A gunshot? Yes, there had been a gunshot! His ears screamed in agony, the noise tearing into them like jagged knives on silk. Then there was a cry, high pitched and loud; it was laced with pain, clearly a victim to the gunshot. He had forgotten about the other sounds. The gentle voice that was soft, the warmth that he had felt beside him, the single tear that had landed on the cold floor. They were gone, and **they** were here now, the three pairs of feet, they had caught up with the one from the vents. Their intentions were clearly hostile._

 _Hostile?_

 _There was a spark, a flicker inside him. What was it? It felt warm, yet cold; it was restrained, yet violent...angry._

 _Angry?_

 _Yes, he was angry. Angry, angry, ANGRY! He was angry that they had shot the one from the vents! He suddenly burned from anger! It boiled within him, breathing life through his body, if it could still be called a body. Oh yes, he was oh so very angry! Very, very angry indeed!_

 _But why was he angry? Why did he feel compelled to feel such anger?_

 _It was as if something was_ _ **forcing**_ _him to be angry. But what could it be?_

 _And then he tasted the blood._

 _It had come from the gunshot; or rather, had been caused by the gunshot. But there was blood..._ _ **BLOOD**_ _._

 _His vision cleared, the blinding light gave way to blurred shapes and discernible shadows. His body was overcome by internal convulsions, and a flame that burned a long, bright path to the one who had landed but a few feet from him. The flame burned, it burned and burned until it reached her, igniting a connection that had not felt vitality in over twenty years: the Hellsing family's seal._

 _'Master?'_

 _No it wasn't Arthur, he was... dead. But that smell, that...taste...it could only be his child, the blood of a Hellsing! Proof of that were the glowing runes on the back of his gloved hands; they glowed so bright, or perhaps they seemed bright because they had been dormant for two cold decades? It did not matter. He knew what he had to do, or rather, what his body was willing him to do._

 _He bent down, hunting the spatter of blood that had graced the floor of his cell; he sent out his tongue, long and snake-like, to lap it up, and his body relished in the pure taste of the Hellsing lifeline._

 _The effect was instantaneous. His vision sharpened a hundred-fold, his hearing became bat-like, he smelled every fine odour, and he wheezed as his dried lungs inhaled their first full breath in years. What he smelled made his anger grow even fiercer._

 _'Richard!'_

 _That slimey bastard was never worthy of the name Hellsing! Oh how he wished the man had curled up and died in some hole years ago; but no, he had endured, and now...now he had shot Arthur's daughter;Integra._

 _A fatal mistake._

 _The seals gave way, removing the protection over Richard that the Hellsing blood would normally give. He had attacked his own kin, and the seals now mandated that he die._

 _And die he shall..._

* * *

Integra watched with horror as the 'corpse' started licking up the blood...her blood. Richard had shot her arm, apparently he wanted to have a bit of fun with her before ending his little game; and now the creature was licking her blood. It became matted with its long, white hair, red smears sat boldly against the ebony strands. She could hear a gentle growl, no, it wasn't a growl...it was purring... _oh god..._

"The-the corpse, it's regained its life!"

"Sir Richard, how is this possible?!"

"I-I don't know, my...my brother never told me of this place!"

"It's moving!"

"Don't just stand there! Kill it! KILL IT NOW! SEND THEM BOTH TO HELL!"

The creature gave a mighty swipe with its arm, cleaving the closest man's head in two. Integra felt herself bolted to the floor with fear as she watched it drink the blood pouring from the man's body; and then the slaughter began.

It tore through the men with brutal efficiency, rending them limb from limb, its great tongue digging into their gaping arteries to better direct the flow of blood into its maw, a maw lined with teeth...and fangs.

 _Vampire..._

"Oh god!" Richard screamed, his hand trembling to such extent he nearly dropped his weapon. "What are you?!"

"Garbage..." It hissed, licking a large smudge of blood from its lips. "You are garbage..."

Richard screamed as the vampire leapt forward with inhuman speed, grabbing his hand and tearing it off, the gun clattered to the floor. The vampire laughed the entire time. Richard fell to the ground, rendered silent by the agony of his lost appendage, he looked on in horror as a large pool of blood collected by the torn stump that was all that remained of his wrist.

Integra's attention was snapped from the grotesque sight as the vampire started to walk towards her; she froze, instinct kicking in and telling her not to move, vampires liked moving prey. The vampire came close, and closer, and closer, until finally stopping barely a foot from her. Integra wanted above everything else to shut her eyes, but she would not; she was a Hellsing, and if she was going to die by a vampire's hand, then she would do it facing her death.

But the killing blow never came, instead, to her utter astonishment, the vampire lowered himself down to kneel before her. He bowed his head low, his body bending in a way she was sure a human could never replicate.

"Are you well, Miss Hellsing?" The vampire asked, raising his head so that Integra was staring into his burning red eyes for the first time. She had always been told by her father that the eyes of a vampire burned with hate, greed, and above all else, hunger. This vampire's eyes did not look anything like that, they looked...concerned. "I am at your service and await your command."

 _Vampire? Wizardry? The Hellsing organisation has a vampire?! Why? What sort of research was father doing?_

"HELLSING WILL BE MINE!"

Integra nearly screamed when she heard the gunshot, but her voice was stolen when the vampire's arm suddenly flew in-front of her to take the bullet. A low, feral snarl escaped it's lips as the vampire gave Richard a look that made Integra's blood run cold.

"Richard...your blood has an unusually foul smell, as does your brain...you shall never be my master!"

Integra saw the gun lying by her feet, she hastily picked it up and rested it on the vampire's arm for support.

"Who are you?" She asked, lining up her uncles petrified face in the gun sights.

"Your father, my master, and his ancestors, called me... Alucard" The vampire replied softly.

Integra's finger pulled on the trigger, the gun fired, and Richard's head snapped back as the bullet him him square between the eyes; he fell back to the floor, dead.

The gun fell from Integra's hand, the adrenaline of the situation fading away as her body recognised that it was no longer in danger. Alucard caught her as her legs gave way, gently cradling her in his arms. He stood up, rising to his full height, and made for the exit of the dark (and blood-soaked) room.

"What are you doing?" Integra asked, slightly alarmed at being carried by an undead monster. It was one thing to be saved by a vampire, but to be carried bridal-style was another matter entirely!

"You're injured, my master," He said, nodding to the bullet wound in her arm. Integra hadn't paid much attention to it until then, there had been a heavy throbbing sensation but that was it. As soon as she registered the wound properly the pain began, and she winced. Alucard's grip tightened slightly. "You need medical attention, does the mansion still have an aid station?"

"There's a small one in the west wing that the soldiers use..." Integra had almost forgotten it was there. Alucard nodded his understanding and set off through the hallways.

Fatigue began to take hold, the stresses of the past three days had finally caught up with Integra. She began to drift off to sleep, in the arms of a vicious vampire, of all places; but not before she noticed the strangely affectionate grin on Alucard's face.


	2. Trezire

**A/N: Hi guys! Major apologies about dissappearing. I got promoted to a new position at work, and my free time kinda...well...dizzolved :P**

 **But now I have some free time again, so I thought I'd get another chapter up for this fic :) Enjoy, and remember to R &R people!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hellsing, its characters, or anything affiliated with it.**

* * *

 **ACT I - THE BEGINNING**

The great house of the Hellsing estate had not been a busy place for a number of years. Many rooms lay dormant, their furniture draped in heavy white sheets, and the paintings covered up for protection. Only a few maids had been kept on as extra staff, save for the medical attendants who had tended to the late master in his final weeks; and even they, now, were gone. But even with so few living under its roof, the house should have been a noisier place; try as he might, Alucard could here no-one.

The sound of his heavy footsteps was muffled when he reached the carpeted hallways of the house, signalling his exit from the dark dungeons below. The air was warmer than he'd liked, and the hostile afternoon sun gave him a headache every time he passed a large window that hadn't had its drapes pulled shut. After a while he grew tired of the irritation, and summoned forth his shadows to pull shut every curtain along his path, making his journey slightly easier. He reminded himself that once he had fed the light would once again pose no issue, and his master would no doubt prefer the curtains to be open during daylight hours.

There was nobody home, he concluded silently, not even a maid or a mouse. Perhaps Richard had sent away the staff in anticipation of his little coup? It would make sense, after all, the fewer witnesses to kill, the better. But Richard was dead now, and it dawned on Alucard that he should probably raise the alarm as to what had transpired in the dungeons below. He would need to find a telephone, but his new master's needs came first.

Integra was right. The infirmary was in the east wing now, and Alucard noted how much smaller it was when compared to the one he remembered to be situated in the west wing. At least it had been kept in good order. He set his charge down on the bed, Integra's sleeping form barely shifting as he pulled the covers over her, and noticed for the first time just how vulnerable she looked. Had he been a lesser beast, Alucard would have probably set himself upon her and drank every last drop of her blood, a decade or two without blood was no easy endurance. Through sheer determination, and the strength of the Hellsing seals, Alucard overcame the primitive urges and was able to reign himself back to whatever he classed as sanity.

Once certain the girl was sleeping soundly, Alucard inspected the room for a telephone. The blood memories of the men he'd killed showed that technology had evolved during his incarceration. Telephones were becoming more advanced, with answering machines and 'displays'. He couldn't help but scoff; humans were never satisfied with what they had, always longing for something newer, better. They were like spoiled babes.

The phone was mounted to the wall by the door, and next to it was an address book hanging from it by a thick piece of string. Alucard flipped through the pages, noting that the telephone numbers of the time had grown with frequency and complexity. For a frustratingly long amount of time he found no familiar names in the book, had everyone from the previous generation died? Just as he was about to give up on the book, Alucard found a familiar name printed against the rough paper. He dialled it into the phone and held the receiver to his ear, noting it was the first time he'd actually used a phone; Arthur had never trusted him enough with technology, save his guns.

His dull musings of the past were cast aside as the recipient of the call answered on the other end of the line; Alucard frowned when he heard the man's voice, cross as ever.

"Yes, what is it?" The man asked.

"Sir Hugh Irons, I presume?" Alucard asked as properly as he could, not knowing whether or not he was trying to mock the man or seem courteous.

"Who is this? How did you get my personal number?" Irons demanded seriously.

"My name is Alucard, no doubt you remember who _**I**_ am," Alucard replied. "I am calling on behalf of the young Master, Integra Hellsing. You must come at once, there has been an attempt on her life."

There was a long silence, and Alucard wondered whether or not the man had terminated the call, passing it off as some sort of joke. But after a moment a reply came.

"What happened?" He asked flatly.

"The late Sir Richard made an attempt on my master's life," Alucard said in an equally flat tone. "He was unsuccessful in his endeavours."

A sharp breath was heard on the other line before Sir Irons spoke again. "I see. And Integra somehow managed to stumble her way through several levels of the sub-basement to your cell?"

Alucard did not like the undertone of accusation; he knew where the old man was going with this. "She went through the air vents. Obviously my previous master had disclosed to her my location. I assure you that I was appropriately bound and had no way of luring her to me - do not take me for a liar." He added with warning.

Sir Irons sighed, and Alucard knew he had won, for now.

"Now is not the time for old grievances," Irons said as calmly as he could. "What is the condition of Miss Integra?"

"She is out of danger," Alucard replied, before casting a glance back to the sleeping girl, and taking note of her bloodied arm. "However she will require minor medical attention for a gunshot wound."

"A _**gunshot**_ wound?" Sir Irons asked hastily, for the first time sounding genuinely panicked.

"A _**non-lethal**_ gunshot wound." Alucard reassured.

"Stay with her, Vampire, I shall be over directly."

"Very well."

The line went dead, and Alucard placed the receiver down. He turned back to Integra -who was still sleeping soundly- and situated himself on a small chair by the bed.

The vampire and the knight sat, and slept, quietly.

* * *

 _The hallway was dark, too dark, given that all of the lights were on. The carpeted floor felt unnaturally hard beneath Integra's feet, and the clapping of her footfalls echoed around her. She didn't remember this part of the house, nothing looked right. The wallpapers were the wrong colour, and the windows the wrong shape. It felt like she'd never known the place._

 _"Are you lost, little girl?" Asked a voice from the shadows._

 _Integra whirled around where she stood, she couldn't see the man, he was all blackness and smoke. He stood tall, fiddling with something in his hand, a gun. Integra took a few steps back from the shadowy figure, and he took two steps forward._

 _"What on earth's the matter, my...frauline?" The man asked, and Integra shrieked as the face of her uncle materialised where before there was nothing._

 _Integra made to run, but she only got a step before vice like hands grabbed her arms. She winced from the pain, feeling her delicate skin bruising under her shirt. The cold barrel of a pistol was placed on her forehead; her sweat mixed with the residue of gunpowder on the muzzle and smudged her brow._

 _"You're not getting away this time, Hellsing belongs to me!" He screamed._

 _"This time?" Integra asked, before gasping as a sudden pain surged up her arm. She looked down, and saw the sleeve ripped, and a river of blood trickling down her arm where the bullet had hit._

 _"Yes..." Richard sneered evilly, pushing the muzzle of the gun hard into her forehead and making it bleed. "This time **I won't miss**!" _

_And he pulled the trigger._

* * *

A lesser person would have screamed, but not Integra.

At first she had thought that her memories had only been a nightmare, but that theory was immediately shattered when she opened her eyes to find herself staring into those of the vampire: Alucard.

Without so much as a peep, she took in a short breath of air and said to the creature calmly, "You know it's rude to stare."

This seemed to amuse the vampire, because his grin grew to an enormity that no human could ever hope to replicate. "Are you feeling better now, Miss Hellsing, my master?" He asked curtly.

"Yes, a little, I-" Integra cut herself off, as she suddenly felt very sick. She sat up just in time for a bucket to appear in front of her, courtesy of a white gloved hand, and she emptied her stomach into it. After a few moments of tumultuous retching, her convulsions ceased and the bucket was removed.

A moment later and the vampire was on his knees, his burning eyes once again looking into hers. It was only then that Integra noticed the dramatic changes to the vampire's appearance, how she did not notice it sooner was a testament to her current state of fatigue.

Alucard now looked different from the monster she had found in the dungeon. His skin was no longer dry, cracked and stretched. Instead it looked clear, full and healthy. His hair, too, was different. It had filled out and shed itself of frayed ends and frizzled strands, and it had darkened to a blackness that rivalled the bleakest midnight. These changes on their own would be considered quite remarkable, if they were not overshadowed by the striking ensemble of a crimson coat, cravat and large duster hat.

"Feeling better _**now**_ , my master?" Alucard asked, and Integra blinked with surprise. His voice, too, had changed. No longer quiet and raspy, it was now clear and deep, and yet it was as smooth as fine silk. Integra did not know why it surprised her, surely vampires would still sound the same as humans; they still had the same vocal chords, after all, albeit undead ones.

"I feel a little better, after _**that**_ , yes." She replied at length, still not understanding why the vampire was helping her, rather than eating her.

As if reading her mind, Alucard chuckled, his laughter reverberating gently through the walls of the manor. "Do not fret my master, I have no intention to eat you. Though if I did, you would hardly be deemed a snack, for you are so bony and small."

Integra's eyes widened. Did the vampire just make a joke? Vampires didn't make jokes! They were the spawns of Satan, an undead plague on mankind, and certainly didn't entertain a sense of humour.

" _You're opinions are misplaced, my master. We denizens of the night are perfectly capable of humour._ " Alucard corrected her gently, though his lips never moved. Integra's jaw dropped as she felt his voice within her mind as if he were possessing her thoughts.

"How are you doing that?" Integra asked.

"Telepathy, obviously,'" Alucard replied normally again, and Integra thought he looked insulted for a moment. "Surely you must have been taught that?"

Integra shook her head. Her education on the undead had been cut back after her father's illness, and her uncle was meant to carry them on in Arthur's stead.

"That cretin would never have honoured my old master's wishes," Alucard said bitterly, reading her mind again. The shadows danced around him angrily, threatening to engulf every part of the room, but they eventually stilled, and he sighed. "Arthur was naive to think Richard would not betray him."

"Richard..." Integra whispered, and she felt the nausea return again when she realised her life had almost ended the previous night. If she had not found Alucard she would surely be dead by now. "You saved my life...thank you." The words did not sit easy on her tongue, it felt strange to be thanking a vampire.

Alucard bowed his head, allowing the black tendrils of hair to dangle across his face. He waited a moment before rising again to his full height. "How is your arm, my master?"

Integra looked down at her arm, noticing her wound had been bandaged and a drip put in her wrist. A half empty saline bag dangled from a metal stand beside her bed. She looked at the wound appreciably. Her injury from the gunshot would heal; it would leave a nasty scar, but that was better than being dead.

"Did you do this?" She asked, gesturing to the bandage.

Alucard shook his head. "The doctor came in whilst you were asleep, I believe your nausea was from the sedative he gave you. You've been asleep for fourteen hours."

"Fourteen hours?" Integra looked over to the window. The drapes were pulled shut, and the clock on the wall opposite read nearly midnight. "Why is the doctor not in here with us?" She asked.

"The rest of them were not comfortable being near me whilst you were asleep, and since I refused to leave your side, they were forced to wait outside." Alucard pointed to the closed door of the infirmary. The bolt had been pulled shut, effectively locking them in. "The bolt was their idea."

Integra was about to ask why, when she suddenly remembered what Alucard was. Of course nobody in their right mind would willingly share a small room with a blood sucking monster. But she was quickly beginning to realise there was more to Alucard than her current understandings of the nosferatu.

"Why did you save me?" She asked; it was a simple enough question, and yet the vampire Alucard looked taken aback by it.

"You are a Hellsing," He said, as if it were the stupidest question in the world. "It is my duty to protect and serve you. I am at your command, my master."

"Why?" Integra asked, the vampires answer having stoked her confusion rather than rid it.

"Why?" Alucard mirrored, his eyes flickering between confusion and frustration.

"Yes, you heard me," Integra repeated, not appreciating the terse tone of his voice. "I have no idea why a vampire I've never heard of is claiming that he serves me. Who are you to Hellsing? Who were you to my father?"

The vampire did not respond immediately. His eyes bored into her own, and Integra somehow knew that he was reading her mind again, but she said nothing. After a moment, his gaze softened and his shoulders went slack.

"My master, you truly do not know." Alucard's words were a statement, not a question. The frustration had left him, and his voice held a whisper of something akin to sadness, but it did not last long. He moved away from the bed, to the door with the bolt, and unlocked it.

"What are you doing?" Integra asked. She tried to stand, but the vampire held up a hand to stop her, and against her better will she found herself listening to him.

"They will want to see you now that you are awake," Alucard explained as his hand gripped the handle. Integra made to speak, but he answered her question before she could ask it. "Don't worry, all will be explained in time, my master. For now, there are those who wish to see you."

He opened the door and stepped out, closing it quietly behind him. Integra could hear muffled voices from the other side, she could easily pick out the boom of Alucard's voice, and to her delight she heard the gentle hum of the only other man she loved as much as her father: Walter.

* * *

 **A/N: I felt that this chapter was a little rough, but I desperately wanted to upload something for this fic again. Tell me what you think so far? :)**


	3. Luptându

**A/N: Thank you all for the kind reviews! Unfortunately I'm having troubles with FanFiction at the moment, and it isn't allowing me to access new reviews in my inbox, but I can still read them via email, so thank you!**

 **I wasn't expecting to update again so quickly, but I got myself on a roll today and this chapter was born from the chaos, enjoy!**

 **P.S: Thank you to those who pointed out a few errors in the last chapter :) Can't believe I missed that! :P**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hellsing, its characters, or anything else affiliated with it.**

* * *

Integra woke with the morning light, and she felt considerably refreshed. A gentle weight was on the bottom of her legs; Walter had refused to leave her side the night before, and had apparently fallen asleep. Integra smiled when she realised it was the first time she'd seen her old butler asleep; he looked remarkably peaceful, and the lines on his skin appeared thinner, taking perhaps a decade off his age. She thought back to the night before; he had been completely beside himself when he'd laid eyes on her the night before, and had spent nearly an hour fussing over her injury and general state of well-being. The attention had only ceased when Integra had found herself feeling tired again, and the Doctor had advised her to rest. 'Things could always wait until tomorrow', he had said.

Tomorrow had now arrived, it seemed, and Integra looked around the infirmary room to find it empty. Nobody else was around, not even the vampire Alucard, which surprised her. After almost a full day in his company, it felt oddly strange to be without him; she almost laughed when she caught herself somewhat missing the presence of such an unholy creature. She concluded that he must have found a place in the manor to rest for the day, perhaps he had even returned to that horrid cell in the dungeons? The mere memory of that place sent a chill down her spine.

Walter stirred at the bottom of the bed, pulling his face away from the sheets, and rubbing where the fabric had left crease lines on his skin. "Ah, good morning Integra," He yawned, rubbing away the sleep from his eyes. "My, my, I must have dozed off sooner than I thought. At least _**you**_ look well rested."

"Walter…" Integra began, but stopped when she noticed some discolouration around Walter's left eye; Walter caught her looking at it and shook his head with a chuckle.

"Oh don't worry about me, I'm not the one who got shot," He admonished gently, placing a hand on her bandaged arm as he scrutinised the doctor's work. "How does it feel?"

"Better now, it doesn't really hurt much anymore. Walter what happened to your eye?" She asked, pushing his hand away so she could place her own on his face. After a moment's analysis, her eyes narrowed. "Did somebody punch you?"

"Oh, look at the state of all this," Walter tutted as he fiddled with her blood stained shirt. Integra felt her frustration rise at his deflection. "You only got this two weeks ago, I shall have to get you a new one before you return to school."

"Walter…"

"I'm fine, Miss Integra," He put his hands up pleadingly. "One of Richard's men was with me yesterday, he tried to flee when he realised his employer had failed, and was promptly dealt with."

Integra was old enough to know when Walter way lying to spare her an ugly truth, but for now she decided to let it slide. After the events of the previous day, she was simply thankful to have his reassuring presence, and decided to change the subject.

"Walter, where is Alucard?"

Walter seemed to physically bristle at the mention of the vampire's name, but he quickly concealed his discomfort and cleared his throat before responding. "Alucard has retired to his quarters for the day; he would only leave if he was guaranteed that I would remain by your side, as if I would do anything else." His voice seemed almost bitter.

"He looks different now," Integra said, remembering how the vampire had changed from when she'd first found him in the dungeon cell. "At first he was like a walking corpse, but when I first woke last night he-he appeared almost human in his appearance."

"He looks different because he has fed on human blood," Walter explained, and Integra's face paled. "Oh, don't worry," He added. "It was donated blood from the local hospital; Hellsing has held a contract with them for many years."

 _A home fed vampire?_ She thought in bewilderment. "I see-What is he? What is he to Hellsing? Father said he was our darkest legacy, is that true?" She asked, her mind flashing back to dungeon where the vampire had saved her life and slaughtered her uncle's men.

Walter hesitated at first, but Integra pressed him again and he relented. "He _**is**_ Hellsing's darkest and greatest legacy," He began, and he took time to carefully choose his words. "Alucard has been a tool, a weapon, used by Hellsing for decades to fight the undead. He will protect Hellsing if needed, but be warned: he _**is**_ a monster; do not let yourself think otherwise, because it will only undo you in the end. His is a loyal servant, but above all else still a monster. You shall learn soon enough his true character, but for now that is all I shall say on the matter."

Integra looked down at her scabbed hands, wondering if her next question would make her sound as frightened as she thought it did. "Is he safe?"

Walter didn't answer her question, but when he left to fetch breakfast his parting words did leave her with some reassurance.

"He will never harm you."

* * *

Days passed, and over the course of the week Walter had become a godsend. Whether or not that was a good thing for her, Integra had yet to determine.

It turned out that running a clandestine organisation was no small task, in fact it was positively monumental, and it seemed even bigger when the one expected to run it was a twelve year old girl; a twelve year old girl still lost in grief.

The first time Integra entered her father's old office, now claimed to be her own, she lasted a full five minutes before rushing out in tears. The room was a commode of past memories, every one revolving around her father and the childhood that now seemed ripped from her. A chair where he would read her stories late into the night, a small telescope where Integra would gaze up at the moon, and the sideboard with Arthur's many decanters of wines, whisky, and brandy.

The next day Walter had them all removed and placed into storage.

The office was now bare, save for the large writing desk, two chairs, and a few bookcases that stood against the east wall. It was a cold, emotionless place, and that's just what she needed for the moment.

The following day –following Walter's advice- she was formally introduced to the soldiers that were to serve under her, which, too, was a challenge. The men seemed reluctant, unwilling even, to be serving under such a young and _**female**_ commander; but after some 'friendly' reminders from Walter about who they were dealing with, they suddenly became rather complicit.

It was not what Integra had hoped for, she would much rather have earned the men's respect and loyalty herself, but for now she would take small victories.

The real hurdle was Sir Irons, and the convention of twelve. Their first meeting was only brief, as he had sustained some suspicious bruising to his face from a supposed car accident; but the next time they met it was far more fractious. The haughty elder knight seemed completely incapable of trusting Integra with the simplest task, and it had begun to drive her mad.

Walter, again, saved the day, and the pair finally broke their deadlock. Integra had been secretly pleased to note the flabbergasted expression on Sir Iron's face; the last thing he had expected was for Integra to bring him five stacks of completed paperwork, a budget report, and her newly 'acquired' Captains to their meeting.

Admittedly it was Walter who had done most of the paperwork, but Sir Irons didn't need to know that little titbit. After that, he agreed to give Integra some time to run Hellsing as her own, and at the end of that period her abilities and leadership would be assessed. She had two months to learn every facet of her organisation, two months to learn what took her father decades.

So far she was struggling, and they hadn't even done a 'mission' yet.

She sat in her office, scribbling away on a financial report to do within something about the soldiers' munitions. Walter sat beside her, explaining the process, why it had to be done, and the benefits of it. This was done with each new form she came across, and Integra was determined to commit it all to memory, no matter how much of a headache it produced. She wanted to prove there was at least **_one_** thing that she could do without Walter holding her hand, even if it was only memorising page notes.

She was on what must have been her hundredth sheet of paper in the report when her pen decided to break, marking the page with a large splotch of ink in the exact location that was meant to bear her signature.

"Dammit!" She cursed, throwing the pen into the dustbin. When she realised the ink had soaked through, and ruined half a dozen more pages, she kicked the bin half way across the office.

Walter said nothing; he simply walked over and picked up the bin, placing it by the desk before finding a new pen and report form for her. She suddenly felt very childish.

"I'm sorry Walter," She said meekly. "I'm not very good at this."

"You are doing marvellously, Miss Integra," Walter said as he gestured to a completed stack of paperwork at the end of the desk, she didn't bother to point out the _**six**_ others that had yet to be done. "I'd ask you to count how many twelve year olds you know who can run their own organisation; go on, count."

Integra sighed, his words only melting away a little of her frustration. "I suppose you have a point, but you are always helping me, remember?"

"For now, but you are still learning," Walter reminded her. "Give it time, and you will be able to do all of it with your eyes closed."

"I've only got two months though," Integra moaned, rubbing her temples with frustration. "And by the end of it I've got to be able to do _all_ of it by myself; its hopeless. "

"You'll be fine," Walter reassured her again, but he had that look in his eyes that told her another truth. "But for now why don't we take a break, it's getting late in the day."

He was right about that, at least; Integra looked out of the office windows and saw the sky had turned from crisp blue into a dark orange. The coming darkness reminded Integra of the absence of a certain spooky character; it had been nearly a week since she had seen, or heard, from the vampire that always seemed to call her 'master'. Perhaps he could offer her a well earned respite from the suffocation of duty, if only temporary.

"Walter, where does Alucard go during the day?"

* * *

It felt quite different to wander the sublevels on foot, rather than squashed inside an air vent. The secret world underneath the manor was far larger than Integra had first thought; she'd lost count of how many corridors and doorways she had passed as Walter led her to the vampire's so called 'private quarters'.

"Walter, what were all of these rooms used for?" Integra asked. She would have looked herself, but every door was locked, and she had yet to find the keys.

"They date back to your great grandfather's time, but they were also used by your grandfather and your father," Walter explained as they made their way down yet another stone staircase. The air was getting thicker, and everything had begun to smell damp and rotten. "Most of the rooms were used to conduct research, but some were for storage of munitions, weapons, that sort of thing."

"Research?' Integra repeated. _What on earth would father be 'researching' in a place like this?_

"Yes," Walter nodded. "But that is a question for another time." He added, as they had arrived to a large set of doors at the bottom of the stairs. They looked heavy, and appeared to be made of steel; spots of rust peppered them, and they had rivets in them not seen since the nineteen thirties. Written on them was a strange symbol, and Integra suspected it wasn't red paint that had been used.

"Is this the place?" She asked, her voice betraying her trepidation.

"Yes, this is where Alucard spends the daylight hours." Walter knocked on the door three times; the metallic tapping echoed through the silence, bounding off the stone walls. After several moments the doors opened with a loud creak, and Integra saw nothing but darkness inside.

"Miss Integra has requested to see you, Alucard." Walter announced loudly.

At his words, the darkness in the room seemed to ebb and fade as half a dozen candles flickered into life. Their light revealed the walls of a large room, far larger than what Integra had imagined to be on the other side of the old doors. To her further surprise, the room was almost completely empty, save for a black coffin, a small table, and beside that an unfathomably large chair.

Upon that chair sat Alucard, his eyes glowing in the poor light of the room.

"Miss Hellsing, my master," He crooned, rising to his feet and dropping into a low bow. "Truly you honour me with your presence this evening."

Integra shifted unevenly at the vampire's flattery, for some reason it felt very different to be talking with him this time. "Good evening, Alucard," She said as confidently as possible.

"You may leave us Walter," Alucard commanded with a wave of his hand, and to Integra's surprise the butler complied with the vampire's request. She sent Walter a pleading look, but he simply smiled reassuringly before quietly leaving the room. The steel door closed with a heavy clang, and she was left alone with the vampire, who was once again sitting in his throne-like chair.

Silence crashed over them. Integra wondered why on earth she had wanted to see the vampire's domain in the first place. Walter had warned her against it, but she had insisted, and only now understood why none of the other house staff came to rooms at the bottom of the sublevels. The room was cold, the air heavy, and it felt like the shadows came alive even though she knew it was just the effect from the candles. _It's just the candles,_ she repeated to herself.

"You've come to see me," Alucard said to her at length, and his voice betrayed his apparent curiosity at the matter. With a click of his gloved fingers, a small chair appeared out of nothing few feet from him, and Integra took a step backward in amazement. "Come, my master," He beckoned. "Sit with me; it has been so long since I've had the pleasure of sociable company."

Integra walked cautiously to the chair, her little black shoes clapped against the floor and the echoes made the dark room feel even larger than ever. Alucard's face broke into a toothy grin as she settled herself on the small cushioned seat. He waited another moment before speaking again.

"What brings you to my humble sanctuary, Miss Hellsing, my master?" He asked politely, though the freakish grin never left his face.

"I suppose I wanted to know what you were doing down here, and why I hadn't seen you," Integra fumbled through the words, the constant gaze of the vampire played her nerves like a fiddle. "Not that I miss your company," She added hastily, "That would be silly."

"Indeed it would, my master," Alucard agreed with a gentle nod. "You needn't bother yourself with such trifles."

"Why do you hide away down here?" She asked.

"Does this place frighten you, my master?" Alucard said in a tone not too dissimilar from a teasing sibling.

"No," Integra said defiantly through shaking lips. "I just wanted to see where you've been this past week."

"I've been here under orders, my master," He said plainly, as if Integra were expected to already know his answer. "My orders are to remain in this place until Hellsing is in need of me. Believe me; I'd much prefer to be up there in your company," He added with a toothy grin.

"Under who's orders were you to remain here?" Integra asked, ignoring his last words.

"Your father's, of course," Alucard replied. Integra thought for a moment she had seen an emotion other than mockery in his features, but she assumed herself to be mistaken.

"My father is dead," She announced firmly; it was the first time she had said those words aloud. "Why do you still obey?"

"The orders of the master are absolute," He explained, raising his right hand up and pointing to the red markings on the back of his glove. Integra noticed the markings matched the one on the doors to the room. "These seals bind me to your bloodline; as long as a Hellsing lives I must follow all orders given by them to the letter."

"And I am your new master?" Integra asked, amazed by this discovery. It would certainly explain why a creature such as him would go out of his way to protect her the way he did.

"You are my master in all ways but one," Alucard said, and he clicked his fingers again. The room darkened once more, and shadows swirled about the small table that stood between them, blowing out some of the nearby candles and dropping them into darkness. "You have yet to bind yourself with the seal, only then will you have full control over me."

With another click of his fingers the shadows were gone, the candles re-lit, and a book sat on the table where before there was none.

Integra picked up the book; it was layered with dust, and the flaking leather cover was embossed with strange symbols and writing. She turned through a few pages, noting it was written in several different languages: English, Russian, French, and, surprisingly, Romanian.

"What is this?" She asked, her eyes following the fine lines of a diagram that seemed to outline some sort of sacrificial ritual.

"It is the dark secret of your family's past," Alucard said with a tone that mocked authority. "Your family may be Christian, but one of your ancestors most certainly sold their soul to the devil to get the powers the Hellsings have now."

"I don't understand," Integra said as she gave up trying to read the book. "What powers do my family have? Do I have those powers too?"

"You see these markings?" Alucard asked, putting his gloved hands down on the table, and Integra nodded. The red markings glowed gently, emitting a gentle light that pulsated like a heartbeat. "Only a Hellsing, or someone with the ability to read magical runes, can see them. To a normal mortal they would appear to be a simple pair of white gloves, and no markings would be seen."

"I see…" Integra whispered. "But what does this book have to do with them?"

"This book contains the ritual that will forever bind you to me," Alucard explained as he gently plucked it away from Integra's fingers. He flipped through a hundred or so pages before he laid it flat. The writing on the pages was in Romanian, and there were symbols written in pencil that exactly matched the ones on Alucard's gloves. "The spell is a contract, a mutual agreement if you will, between two willing parties. A payment of blood is made, and the souls of the two participants are linked; however some modifications were made to this particular spell, so that one person is held supremely dominant above the other."

"And that's why you serve me." Integra concluded, but Alucard shook his head.

"It's why I would serve you, if this ritual were to take place, which it nearly didn't," He explained with a surprisingly angry snarl, and Integra cocked her head in confusion. Alucard closed the book with a snap and set it back down on the table. "Do you know where I found this?" He asked gesturing to it.

Integra would have said it was in her father's library, but she couldn't remember seeing a book that looked anything like it, not even in his private collection when she would secretly sneak in to steal a book on vampire lore to read at night.

"It should have been locked in a research room down here, in the sublevels; but on the night you were almost killed by that traitorous slime I found it somewhere else entirely." He said, and the malicious edge to his voice made it clear to Integra he did not approve of where it had been found.

"Where did you find it?" Integra asked, her curiosity bubbling into overdrive.

"Would you perform the binding ritual, if I gave you this?" Alucard asked, ignoring her question, as he traced his fingers over the book cover.

"I thought that would be against your best interest?" Integra said, confused as to why the vampire would willingly sell himself away to her. Clearly the vampire found it confusing as well, for her response incited a raucous laughter from him.

"My best interest?" He asked between his cackling. "Oh dearest Miss Hellsing, you truly are a different one! That was very good, very good indeed…"

Integra didn't understand the humour of it.

Alucard finally took in a deep breath to calm himself before he spoke again. "But I must be serious now... would you do it?"

Integra looked down; her trembling hands were gripping tightly onto the hem of her skirt. "I don't know. I think I would have to, wouldn't I?"

"There is always a choice, Integra." He said, calling her by name for the first time, and it sounded oddly nice coming from his tongue, almost caring.

"What if I'm no good?" She asked him. She'd had this internal argument with herself since the moment she left the infirmary. She just didn't know how to conjure up the pure determination that had burned within her father. Sure, she could get angry, shout at a few soldiers, and do a few hours of filing, but then her fire would dwindle and fade; she would be left the same, vulnerable, little girl that everyone saw her as. _What if there's someone better at this than me?_ She thought to herself.

" _Your abilities would eclipse all those who would pretend to be your superiors, if only you let them."_ Integra winced asAlucard's voice rang through her head like a church bell.

"How do you know that?" She asked him seriously. "How do you know I'm going to be better than others who've done this longer than me? Who've got more courage than me?"

"Because I have taken the measure of those who would oppose you, and they have come up rather short by comparison." He said cryptically, and before Integra could respond he spoke again. "Perhaps if I showed you where I found this book, perhaps if you saw what I saw, perhaps then you would be swayed into action?"

The way he spoke gave Integra she indication he would show her regardless. "In what way would you show me?" She asked sceptically.

In a flash, Alucard was off his chair and kneeling directly before her. Before Integra even had a chance to register his movements, two gloved hands cupped themselves around the sides of her head, and everything went black.


End file.
